There are 171, 476 words in modern use in the Oxford English Dictionary, as well as 47, 156 obsolete ones, so it’s no wonder we get mixed up occasionally. These are some of the most common/most fun to write about ones, as a holiday blog!
Hoard/Horde
A hoard is a store of valued objects, such as treasure or ‘that hoard of Bill’s favourite socks’.
A horde is a large group of people, a term usually used in a negative way, such as ‘a horde of angry villagers with pitchforks’.
Therefore, ‘a king’s hoard’ would be somewhat better to find than ‘a king’s horde’, although you might quickly find the horde anyway!
Bear/Bare
A bear is, of course, a large mammal, but can also refer to bearing a heavy load, or a more figurative carrying, such as a name. It can also mean to endure suffering, as with the phrase ‘grin and bear it’, or to give birth or a plant bearing fruit.
Bare means to uncover, as a verb, or describes something that is uncovered, as an adjective. It can also refer to the absolute minimum, such as recounting the ‘bare bones’ of a story.
So, saying ‘I can’t bare potatoes’ would simply mean you couldn’t peel them! Likewise, ‘padding in bear feet’ would suggest you had a lovely pair of fuzzy, paw-shaped slippers!
Bear and bare are also homophones, which can be excellent for puns, as Horrible Geography seems to agree.
Image credits to Amazon and Book Depositary.
Crevasse/Crevice
This is an easy one to mix up as they sound similar and have similar (but not identical) meanings.
A crevasse is a large, deep fracture, particularly in a glacier or ice sheet.
A crevice is a small, narrow gap, usually in a rock face.
The primary difference, therefore, is one of size, but this can be very important to a climber. A small crevice may help as a handhold to climb up a rock face, whereas a gaping crevasse would be something of a hindrance instead!
Complement/Compliment
These two are also homophones and easy to confuse when spelling them out.
Complement means that something goes well with something else and makes it better, for example, a wine might complement a particular dish.
Compliment means to give praise about something, for example, complimenting a host’s cooking or excellent taste in wine!
These two can cause confusion if used wrong, such as a company complementing rather than complimenting their employees. This would mean that the company goes particularly well with their employees, which may be true but does not work in the phrase ‘The company would like to complement all the employees on their excellent work’!
This is also true in reverse, for example, a bracelet complimenting a dress would mean the bracelet was telling the dress that it looks amazing!
Pore/Pour
A pore is a small opening, such as in the skin, or a verb meaning to study something closely, such as poring over your work.
Pour means to flow or cause to flow, as in a pouring waterfall or pouring a drink.
A confusion here can be messy – imagine pouring water all over your book as you examine it! Alternatively, if it pores with rain, the sky has literally sprung a leak!
Reign/Rein
Reign is to hold a royal office, for example, the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
A rein is a strap attached to a horse’s bit, usually used in pairs. This can be a verb as in ‘she reined her horse in’.
A major confusion with this one arises from the expression ‘free rein’. This refers to when you slacken a horse’s rein and let it choose where to go. This is commonly written as ‘free reign’, which may initially seem to make sense, as a reigning monarch is free to do what they like (with some limitations). However, a reign already has this sort of freedom by definition, so there’s no need to add the word free before as well.
Flout/Flaunt
To flout a rule or law is to disregard it, for example, ‘Bill continually flouts the office’s “no extra socks” policy’.
To flaunt means to display something in as showy a way as possible, for example, ‘Bill won’t stop flaunting his new designer socks’.
The result of a muddle here can be important; if you flout your new outfit, you are doing your best to treat it with disdain or ignore it completely! On the other hand, if you flaunt a rule, you would be showing it off to everyone you saw.
Current/Currant
A current is a flow of something, such as water or electricity, or refers to something that is happening now.
A currant is a type of dried grape.
So if you are writing about ‘currant events’, these are all the events concerning dried grapes, recent or not. Likewise, if a recipe requires a current, you may have to take it to a nearby river, or electricity socket!
Elicit/Illicit
To elicit is to invite a reaction or response, for example, ‘Bill hoped to elicit some replies from his odd sock newsletter’.
Illicit means that something is not allowed by certain rules or law, for example, ‘Bill illicitly smuggled some more socks into his desk’.
If you ‘illicit success’, for example, you would be forbidding it, whereas ‘elicit black market goods’ would actually be inviting these goods.
Summing Up…
The English language can be a confusing thing at times, and mistakes are certainly difficult to spot in your own work after you’ve reread and revised so many times you’ve lost track. Nobody’s perfect – even proofreaders! However, a proofreader can help spot these errors before your book goes to be printed, so you don’t have to worry about them being immortalised in print. I hope this is helpful and maybe made you smile. Happy holidays!
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